Moby Media executive urges global support for Afghan press

Mujahid Kakar, head of news and current affairs for
Afghanistan’s Moby Media Group, was at the United Nations on Monday to give a speech on
World Press Freedom Day. He stopped by CPJ’s office afterward, and we talked
for more than an hour about journalism in Afghanistan. Kakar, left, whose oversight includes the influential Tolo TV, made a string of
important points concerning lapses in professionalism, the importance of
international support, and the challenges that front-line journalists face from
all sides. I’ll bullet-point some of them, and then quote Kakar about what he
felt was the most important part of his message:

Amid
rapid media growth in Afghanistan—more than 20 private TV channels, 220
radio stations, and 300 newspapers now operate—training and professionalism
have not kept pace. Kakar said he wants UNESCO and others in the
international community to help Afghan journalists get training outside of
the country.

The
Taliban are more media savvy than the Afghan government. “Quite honestly,
we have great access to the Taliban spokesman through the Internet because
they have a very well updated Web site,” he said, noting that it’s better
than the government’s online presence. The Taliban make great use of
mobile phones and SMS, he said, and they return reporters’ calls. But
Kakar noted that the Taliban see Afghan media as a propaganda tool. Journalists
who report stories the Taliban don’t like become the targets of threats and
retaliation.

There
are threats from the government, too. But even worse is the poor flow of
information from the ministries. The main challenge that journalists face
is that the government doesn’t want journalists to have full access to
information. Even though every ministry has a spokesperson, they’re seldom
available. “We don’t have access to the right person, so we speculate. Then
people in the government accuse us, saying that our facts and figures are
not accurate. Then we tell them that you did not provide us with the right
information, so what do you want us to do?” Kakar said reporters are
forced to rely too often on sources who do not want to be identified.

Kakar has mixed
reviews concerning the press policies of the International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF). Since U.S. General Stanley
McChrystal became head of troops in Afghanistan, the situation in Kabul seems
to have gotten better. “They established a good media team and they
provide reporters with information. But working in Kabul is easy; the
situation in remote areas is very difficult. If a roadside bomb explosion happens
in a remote area it is very difficult to get information about who was
responsible, how many people killed, how many were civilians, how many
NATO troops, Afghan troops.” Camera crews are rarely allowed access to
bombing scenes. Verification of facts is very difficult.

Facing obstacles from all sides, what do Afghan
journalists need most? In our conversation, Kakar repeated what he said was the
core of his message at the United Nations:

Quite honestly, what Afghan journalists need right now is
moral support, because we know that we can survive if we have international
moral support. Since the fall of the Taliban, media have been growing rapidly
in Afghanistan. There are a lot of people who believe that they have a role in
providing information, organizing civil society to prevent human rights abuses,
women’s rights abuse. Moral support is very essential.

But what I feel we are witnessing in recent times,
especially after Obama took office, is that his government has failed to
address the support for the promotion of democracy. If you study the Obama
strategy, there is no single point about the promotion of the human rights,
promotion of the democracy, of media. A lot of Afghans think that the U.S. has
taken a few steps back. There is no strong support for media, for democracy.
The Bush administration was very clear on the issue of promotion of civil
society, human rights, education, the media. But when Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton announced that the fight was only against America’s enemies and
not to promote democracy in Afghanistan, that was quite a disappointment for the
Afghan press. That’s the message people feel they are getting from America.

Afghan journalists know that if we don’t have the strong
support of international community we can’t survive. Because on one hand there
are drug lords, the crooked elements of the government, and the Taliban—they’ll
all use tools to pressure the free media so that it can’t survive. Our main
pillar of support for free media is the support of the international community,
the strong voice of the international community.

Bob Dietz, coordinator of CPJ’s Asia Program, has reported across the continent for news outlets such as CNN and Asiaweek. He has led numerous CPJ missions, including ones to Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. Follow him on Twitter @cpjasia and Facebook @ CPJ Asia Desk.